The cardiac centre

Yesterday, I accompanied my mother to the SSRNH Cardiac Centre for her check-up. After 3 hours of waiting there, my stress level went really high up (they’re probably preparing the ground for me as a future patient!).

Her appointment was scheduled for 1 pm. Knowing that waiting time tends to be long there and that there are lots of other patients on appointment, we arrived there at 12.30 and obtained number 16 (not bad, I thought). We settled down in our chairs in the spacious but crowded waiting room not far from the TV set and the windows (there was only one fan working and that, too, in a corridor…).

The noise level was quite tolerable until a hospital nurse decided to tune in the TV to MBC2 for an old Hindi movie that was fraught with shouting, screaming, crying, loudspeaking and of course high-pitched music (it was a family drama that can be summarised as ‘very bad and rich daughter-in-law creates havoc in a simple family’). The sober news from BBC World on MBC3 or the quiet Canadian family movie on MBC1 would have probably been better for resting the nerves of already tired heart patients and their parents. At least I could hang on to a small book on branding I took the precaution to carry along…

In contrast, the nurse in charge of calling patients’ names had an irritatingly low voice, which made my stress level surge up each time she would come out of the consultation room. And I was also appalled by the fact that after the 3 or 4 patients rushed to her upon hearing their names, she would just close the door on them, thus signaling that she expects them to wait dutifully outside the door, ready to dart in as their turn comes. Talk about customer care at its lowest… treated like sheep….

The nurse must have called at least 20-25 names and still nothing about my Mum. When I inquired at 3 pm, I found out only one doctor had been consulting and a second one had come in at around 2.40 pm. And my Mum’s file had been transfered to the second doctor. Guess what, they had not bothered to keep the same order in the files so my Mum must have lost at least 10 places!

Welcome to the world of public health care! Waiting for 2 hours is still the norm in public hospitals. However, i do think that in the case of heart issues, which is a vital organ, there must be at least two doctors on duty. But as the press portrayed it today, “troubles chez les medecins”, there is a malaise amongst public surgeons. The responsible ministry better engage itself into the matter before there is no doctor at all.

One month back I had to accompany a student who got hurt at school..she had a dislocated knee n needed to be transported immediately to hospital. N this was supposed to be an emergency and just like you had to wait so much there..

they just put her on a trolley n waited for some1 to bring her for the X-ray.. N we had to spend 2 hrs at the hospital.

If for an emergency they took all that time, Now imagine how much time the other patients in casualty had to wait!!

N on top of that the doctor scolded my little F1 student.. poor her she was so scared seeing her displaced knee but the doctor forced her to stand on both feet n start walking.

Working in a service providing department myself but in a very evolving quick-spaced environment since we deal with foreigners and the private sector, i can only say that me too get irritated when going to hospital or any other dept of the Govt…

One thing i dont understand, how we – officers operating at the Work Permit Unit – are always on the move and care for customers, and when we are a customer in another public dept, we are not served properly????

Just try the Civil Status Office at Emmanuel Anquetil Bldg(Pl) or the Social Security Office at Astor Court-Pl…. It is the chaos there… evryday i see people waiting outside Astor Court since 7h30a.m, just to be received inside the office at around 9h30.. sa aussi, pa trop sure si ban officiers la ine fini rentre travail…